Free Republic

Dorothy Oxendine presides over American Gold Star Mothers Inc., a national organization of women whose sons and daughters have died in military service to the nation. (Photo by Mark Abraham) AMERICAN IDENTITY With the Iraq War, a New Generation of Gold Star Mothers BY DELIA M. RIOS More stories by Delia M. Rios WASHINGTON -- As Dorothy Oxendine knows, the most dreaded words a parent can hear are "We regret to inform you ..." She lost her only son, Pfc. Willie F. Oxendine III, to a land mine in Vietnam on May 30, 1968. His death at age 21...

he night before her son left for Kuwait, Ruth Aitken argued with him on the telephone for nearly three hours. From her living room in State College, Pa., she told him that a war with Iraq made no sense, that it was really a scuffle over oil. Her son, an Army captain based at Fort Stewart, Ga., countered that America needed to be protected from terrorists. "Mother," he finally told her, "it's my job." The argument — a "major confrontation" in Ms. Aitken's memory — was by no means their first debate over the war, but it was their last....

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.

<p>We the people share your grief, regardless. With time, you will see that this duty-bound man did not die in vain. Marine Staff Sgt. Kendall Waters-Bey volunteered to serve his country and in his way help protect the life we all enjoy. That is testimony of his honorable status across all eternity among the ranks of precious fallen warriors.</p>

Baltimore Marine Dies In Chopper Crash Victim's Father Has Strong Words For Bush BALTIMORE -- WBAL-TV 11 NEWS first broke the news that a Baltimore man is among a group of Marines killed in a helicopter crash inside Kuwait Thursday night. He is identified as Marine Staff Sgt. Kendall Waters-Bey, 29, (pictured, right), of northeast Baltimore, WBAL-TV 11 NEWS reported. He is based out of Camp Pendleton in California and leaves behind a 10-year-old son who lives in Baltimore and four sisters. "It's sad that this war is going on and that we have to lose so many people over...